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Kathleen Wynne announces measures to curb sexual violence, harassment

The Ontario government is introducing a slew of measures to curb sexual violence and harassment in the wake of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says that her government will soon introduce a "multi-media public education campaign to challenge norms, behaviours and myths around sexual violence and harassment.” (Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo)

The Ontario government is introducing a slew of measures to curb sexual violence and harassment in the wake of the Jian Ghomeshi scandal.

Premier Kathleen Wynne on Thursday announced that all Liberal MPPs, ministers, and political aides will be forced to undergo sexual assault and harassment training.

Grit caucus harassment policies and procedures will also be reviewed to ensure they “conform with best practices.”

Wynne said she would be asking Speaker Dave Levac to ensure similar training is available to Progressive Conservative and NDP MPPs.

The premier stressed that some of the measures were in the hopper before Ghomeshi, a prominent CBC Radio host, was fired in October. He has since been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of “overcome resistance” — or choking.

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“Actually, some of these things are things that we had talked about. I had had conversations with my staff about how we were going to move forward — so a number of these initiatives had been in the works,” she said.

“Obviously, the conversation that has happened because of the current disclosures and this situation have perhaps accelerated (matters).”

Early in the New Year, the Liberals will unveil a “multimedia public education campaign to challenge norms, behaviours and myths around sexual violence and harassment.”

In Ottawa, federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau suspended two of his male MPs from caucus over what he called serious sexual misconduct allegations involving female NDP MPs.

Wynne’s announcement comes as Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the Montreal massacre where 14 women were murdered by a male gunman while they studied at École Polytechnique.

“A quarter of a century later, violence remains prevalent in the lives of far too many women and girls,” said Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues Tracy MacCharles.

At Queen’s Park, the house leaders from all three parties are entangled in negotiations on striking a committee to study sexual violence and harassment.

Conservative MPP Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock) said she’s “quite disappointed” the Liberals may not form an all-party select committee of MPPs to criss-cross the province.

“It’s not just a Queen’s Park issue; it’s workplaces across the province.”

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